Manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Zarema Bariieva met with the Minister of Culture of Croatia – Nina Obuljen Koržinek.
The meeting was also attended by Croatian diplomat, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Djamić, Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection Tomislav Petrinec, Director of the Department of International Cultural Cooperation Anja Jelavić and other members of the delegation.
Together with representatives of the expert network of the Crimean Platform, at the meeting, Madam Minister was informed about the current situation in the occupied Crimea, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, namely, the situation in the field of culture and media.
Zarema Bariieva spoke about the situation in which the indigenous Crimean Tatar people found themselves, repressions, the destruction of the cultural heritage of the indigenous people of Crimea and the erasure of the ethnic identity of the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula by the occupiers.
Bariieva informed the delegation about the appeal of the CTRC to all governments, cultural and scientific institutions of all civilized countries with an appeal:
– to establish a Commission for the Return of Cultural Property from the Temporarily Occupied Territories in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, 1954;
– to stop any cooperation with similar institutions of the occupying country;
– not to participate in any cultural and scientific-cultural events held by parties associated with Russia;
– not to transfer objects of cultural heritage to Russian museums for holding any events;
– not to introduce into scientific circulation any research that was carried out in violation of international law on the protection and preservation of cultural heritage;
– to ake all necessary measures to return to Ukraine all objects of cultural heritage that were stolen by the occupiers from the temporarily occupied territories and ended up on the territory of such third countries.
Also, the Minister and the Ambassador were invited to join the Atalik-Godfather campaign and take patronage over the Crimean Tatars – civilian journalists who were illegally convicted and serving sentences in Russian prisons.
In addition, the CTRC manager offered to promote the recognition by the Croatian Parliament of the Deportation of 1944 as an act of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people.